The Sleep-Deprived Superhero
by Arkeragon
Summary: Adrien Agreste is fed up after a sleepless night.
1. Chapter 1

Adrien Agreste stifled a yawn as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Every second he could feel his eyelids grow even heavier. He'd managed to stay awake all day- on a Monday no less- but the lack of sleep after dealing with last night's Akuma weighed heavily upon him. On top of that, the afternoon sun streaming through the window was warming just the right spot on his back and he'd never felt like a nap more than now. Perhaps that was just his 'Chat Noir' talking though. Another yawn forced its way out of his lips and Adrien struggled to contain it.

"Mr Agreste!" Adrien snapped to attention, his back straightening automatically. Mme. Bustier was staring at him, her arms crossed and her foot tapping the floor.

"Might I recommend you revise your current sleep schedule Mr Agreste?" she asked sharply.

"Sorry miss," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck bashfully and looked down at his desk. Even if his sleep schedule (or lack thereof) wasn't his fault, he couldn't stop a feeling of guilt worming its way around his stomach.

Mme. Bustier nodded and returned to her lesson. An elbow nudged his side and Adrien turned to look at Nino, who slid a torn scrap of paper in front of him.

_You okay dude?_

Nino peered at Adrien with worried eyes and Adrien grinned weakly and gave him a thumbs up. Unconvinced, Nino scribbled something else on the paper.

_How much sleep did you get last night man?_

Adrien frowned as he tried to recall what time he'd snuck back into his house. Surely it couldn't have been past one when he got home. Adrien stifled another yawn and scratched an untidy 6 on the page. Six hours? Surely that was just enough to get by right? The glare Nino sent him said otherwise. Nino hunched over the scrap of paper scribbling furiously.

Adrien sighed and shot a glance at Mme. Bustier to make sure she wasn't watching. Sure enough, the redhead was still engrossed in her lecture about the literary techniques used in the poem_ Tomorrow, at Dawn. _Nino forced the slip of paper under his nose.

_6 hours? What do you do at night dude? _

Adrien briefly considered writing a smart-alecky comment about being Chat Noir but ultimately decided against it. He was tired, but not tired enough to make a mistake like that. Adrien scrawled his answer onto the sheet in long, loopy letters.

_Ladyblog_.

Nino sniffed and turned his gaze back at the board. Adrien sighed. Mme. Bustier was explaining something he couldn't quite make out, her hands dancing energetically through the air. Adrien wished he had his phone in his pocket to check the time. Surely class was nearly over. In just a few moments maybe...

The windows shuddered violently as metal bars slammed around the outside, completely enclosing the classroom. A deafening roar shuddered through the school, almost waking Adrien from his half-dead state. Shrieks and cried erupted all over the room as the class dissolved into absolute anarchy.

Akuma.

Adrien banged his head on the table, ignoring the stinging sensation as his skull came in contact with the hard wood. How was Hawkmoth able to make so many of those abominations so soon!? It was absolutely ludicrous. Maybe his plan wasn't to win by force. Maybe, just maybe, he was going to tire them out until they couldn't fight back and then _waltz_ in and take the miraculous by himself.

Plagg's green eyes blinked at him from his bag and Adrien groaned and stood up, pushing his chair to the side. _Yayy_, he moaned internally, not looking forward to this. Transformation time. Adrien reached the door, only to be bowled over by none other then Ladybug as she practically flew into the classroom.

Adrien hit the floor with a bang and Ladybug went down on top of him.

Impact pain aside, he thought, lying down felt so much better than standing up.

Any other time, such close proximity to his lady would have caused him to practically purr in delight. Today, however, he was too tired to care. Sleep deprivation conquers all, it would seem. Adrien clambered to his feet, muttered an apology to her beetroot face and stepped through the door.

Only to see a flash of pain and find himself on his back again.

The doorway was sealed over, covered by what looked suspiciously like steel plates. Adrien rubbed his head. The screaming and the shouting was doing his head in. Mme. Bustier was standing at the head of the room doing her best to corral the class into a manageable group with little success. Half the students were hiding under their desks and the others were busy trying to find somewhere better to hide. The Akuma dropped through the ceiling and Mme. Bustier gave up on controlling the students and joined a group huddled under a desk.

Adrien looked for a place to transform. The more he looked, the fewer options he had. Ladybug was engaging the Akuma (Who called himself something that Adrien was not going to remember) in a frantic game of cat and mouse while the rest of the class stayed as far away as they could. Adrien looked at his phone. School should have ended twelve minutes ago!

Adrien frowned. If Hawkmoth hadn't sent his stupid butterfly after some angry person, he could be asleep by now. Adrien's frown deepened into a scowl. But no. Another Akuma just had to worm its way into his day and mess it up even more. Adrien stood up. That stupid butterfly man. If he ever found out who Hawkmoth really was, he'd make sure that man rued the day he ever touched the butterfly miraculous.

"Adrien, what are you doing?" Adrien ignored Nino's panicked hiss. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to punch Hawkmoth in the face, as hard as he could. Unfortunately, the supervillain wasn't close enough to do that. However, the Akuma was.

"Adrien, get down!" It was Ladybug herself, diving towards him. Adrien ducked and Ladybug landed a few metres away. The Akuma loomed over him, chuckling threateningly.

"Any last words kid?" Adrien shot it the most impressive death glare he could muster in his zombie-like state.

"This is for the stupid butterfly man." The Akuma opened its mouth to respond and Adrien slammed his clenched fist into its head so hard that the butterfly was torn from it. The Akuma slammed into the far wall of the classroom, dropping to the floor as its costume faded.

Adrien huffed angrily and wiped his hands on his shirt. That felt good. Adrien turned around to find the entire class, Ladybug included, staring at him slack-jawed.

Oh...

The little butterfly flitted towards the students. Ladybug snapped out of her trance, automatically catching and purifying it. With a cry of Miraculous Ladybug, the steel panels disappeared in a shower of ladybugs.

"Dude..." Nino whispered. Adrien stiffly retrieved his bag from under his desk and scampered from the classroom. He could feel the eyes of his classmates burning into his back as he left. The sound of Ladybug's yoyo echoed through the hall behind him and Adrien ducked into a classroom.


	2. Chapter 2

The sleep-deprived superhero part II

Had Hawkmoth contained anything in his mouth, it would currently be plastered all over his secret lair. As it was, his mouth was hanging open wide enough for Nooroo to fly in there without worrying about being cramped.

There was no way. Hawkmoth shook his head in disbelief, refusing to believe what his eyes were so clearly telling him. It was impossible. His legs wobbled and Hawkmoth planted his cane between them to provide some support. Surely not. Surely his son, his little Adrien, had not just punched his Akuma out of its host. It was inconceivable, impossible, unbelievable; there shouldn't be a way to break the bond between his butterfly and it's host, not like that. And the audacity of his insult!

'This is for the stupid butterfly man.'

Hawkmoth had physically recoiled at the sheer savagery of the aspersion. When had his son learned to deliver one-liners like that?

And yet, despite all his denial, that had been his little Adrien and he had just literally clobbered a supervillain. Hawkmoth replayed the scene in his head. Adrien's burning glare, so full of genuine malice that Hawkmoth actually shuddered. Perhaps there was more to Adrien then he thought. What could possibly have causedthe boy to harbour such intense hatred for an Akuma? Sure, they were an inconvenience, but normally they didn't last long before Ladybug and her feline compatriot took care of them.

"Nooroo, Dark Wings fall." The command echoed through the empty lair, reverberating theatrically and Gabriel Agreste nodded to himself. He'd made all the right designs to the lair when it was constructed and the result was rather spectacular. It was a shame that nobody ever got to witness it. Nooroo drifted around his head. Except for Nooroo, although Gabriel wasn't quite sure that his Kwami counted. Gabriel fixed him with a piercing glare, the shock of what he'd just witnessed falling to his lust for knowledge.

"How did this happen?" he demanded. Nooroo narrowed his eyes in what Gabriel suspected was amusement but the expression disappeared too fast for him to be sure.

"As you know," the purple Kwami began, "the bond between an Akuma and the host is only physical in relation to the possessed object, meaning that physical damage taken anywhere else should have no impact upon-"

"I know this," Gabriel snapped. "I want an answer, not a textbook!"

"As you wish." The butterfly Kwami dipped its head mockingly and zipped to the window. "The only other reason I can think of now is that there was a lack of conviction within either the receiver or the sender." Gabriel pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"Our latest host was dealing with the turmoil of losing his job, there isn't any way he could have fought me off. That means that-" Gabriel clenched his teeth and fixed his Kwami with his most venomous stare.

"Are you suggesting my motivations for this lack conviction?"

"Not at all master. Perhaps it is the current misuse of the miraculous that fails to clearly pass your intentions to the Akuma." Gabriel resisted the urge to snarl at his Kwami.

"Give me a concrete reason why my son was able to remove an Akuma from it's host with nothing more than a punch!"

Silence. Gabriel stared at the window. His Kwami was no longer in sight. Gabriel clenched his fists, tight enough to feel the bones creak worryingly.

"Nooroo! Where are you! I command you return to my side now!" A second passed and the butterfly Kwami appeared in a flash of purple smoke, a grape in his hand.

"Yes master?"

Gabriel felt a vein throb in his forehead. He was going to strangle that smug little butterfly the moment he had Ladybug and Char Noir's miraculous.

Elsewhere, far away:

"I just punched it Plagg!" The miniature god of destruction looked at his charge approvingly.

"Sure did kid, and without your powers!" Adrien held his face in his hands, sinking into an empty seat. Plagg bobbed around his head idly.

"How did that work?" Adrien stammered. "I mean, I just swung my fist and-!"

"It was great to watch a fight in person for once and not be in the middle of it! I didn't have to do anything!"

"Is that even possible? I couldn't have hit the possessed object that easily and even if I had, it takes super strength or a Cataclysm to destroy a possessed object!"

"Although watching it did make me quite hungry, you don't know hard it is to concentrate for so long."

"I could have died if that didn't work!"

"Eh?" Plagg turned his attention to his charge. "That's terrible, who would feed me if you died?"

"Plagg are you even listening to me?" The cat Kwami did a little twirl, coming to rest in Adrien's hair.

"Nope, I'm waiting for you to go home and feed me."

"ADRIEN!"

The door to the classroom slammed open, revealing a very flustered ladybug who stopped dead at the sight of Plagg nestled in Adrien's locks.

"You- Wha- A Kwami! Plagg! How? CHAT NOIR!"

"Oh hey Ladybug!" Plagg called, barely missing a beat. "You wouldn't believe this, but Adrien here is a massive fan of Camembert, just like me!"

"I don't believe this!" Ladybug stammered, a crimson spreading over her face. "You're Chat Noir!"

"If you'd listen to me," Plagg sighed, "I was about to say that Adrien is my camembert supplier. Chat Noir can't afford to buy any but Adrien here is glad to be of assistance!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah!" Adrien blurted. "Plagg here wanted to make sure his camembert supplier wasn't hurt after the incident and Chat Noir let him check on me. He's actually very reliable!" Ladybug pursed her lips.

"Is he okay Plagg?" The Kwami nodded.

"Tip top condition lady luck."

"Just so you know Plagg, when I see Chat Noir next I'm going to tell him off. No-one is supposed to know about the Kwami. The less anyone knows about us and the miraculous the better!"

"Don't worry bug, Adrien is the only one who knows and it's for a good reason! What would you do if you couldn't afford to give Tikki her cookies?"

"Plagg! Not in front of Adrien! Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't offend to mean you! I mean to offend you," Ladybug squawked.

"It's okay Ladybug, I understand it's secret." Adrien winked and tapped the side of his nose. Ladybug flushed deep red.

"Well, as long as it's still secret, I'm glad that you're helping us Adrien!"

"It's my pleasure," Adrien replied.

"Well!" Ladybug squeaked anxiously, "I'd better be off now, bug out!"

And with that, she was gone. Adrien breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was intense! Do you think she bought it?"

"Of course she did," Plagg yawned. "She's as dense as you are. Can we go home now?"

"Yeah." Adrien glanced at his watch. School was over. It was time to finish the rest of his day.

.

.

.

Note: It's been a while huh?


End file.
